The county did not have to admit any wrongdoing and will not have to change any of its existing policies, officials said. The lawsuit will be dismissed as a result.

The scandal erupted after State Attorney Jeff Ashton discovered Mayor Teresa Jacobs and four present and former commissioners broke the law by deleting text messages to and from lobbyists and private citizens during a public hearing.

"They did not realize that these were public records," said State Attorney Jeff Ashton.

Ashton determined Jacobs, Scott Boyd, Jennifer Thompson, Fred Brummer and John Martinez broke the law by deleting those text messages.

Citizens for a Greater Orange County released the following statement:

"For the first time in history, Orange County citizens successfully petitioned their government in 2012. Unfortunately, instead of having the right to vote on Earned Sick Time, the County Commission illegally blocked that right after texting with corporate special interests who wanted to make sure the vote never happened.

“Citizens for a Greater Orange County has reached a settlement with Orange County which covers our legal fees and costs incurred in the lawsuit. It is unfortunate that this matter had to get to this point and that workers in Orange County will continue to risk being fired if they or a loved one get sick. The County Commission could have avoided this by following the law when it really mattered.

"In 2014, voters will have the opportunity to vote for Earned Sick Time by voting for candidates who support this common sense policy and voting against those who broke the law and failed to stand up for voters, choosing instead to side with special interest lobbyists. “

ROOPNARINE'S MURDER. . NEW DEVELOPMENTS TONIGHT IN A WESH 2 NEWS INVESTIGATION. ORANGE COUNTY'S MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS WILL NOT FIGHT FINES IMPOSED BY THE STATE ATTORNEY FOR DESTROYING PUBLIC RECORDS. THOSE RECORDS, TEXT MESSAGES. THE TEXTS TO LOBBYISTS LEADING FROM A LAWSUIT FROM LOCAL LOBBYISTS. THE COUNTY'S BILL FIGHTING THAT LAWSUIT IS MORE THAN WHAT THE MAYOR SPENT TO COLLECT TEXT MESSAGES. WHY DID LEADERS DECIDE TO PAY THE FINES. THE WORD WE'RE GETTING THE MAYOR AND COMMISSION HAS THOROUGHLY DISCUSS WITH ATTORNEYS THE FINES AND IMPACT THEY COULD HAVE ON A CIVIL CASE THE FINES COULD HAVE ON A LAWSUIT. IT'S BEEN DETERMINED THAT PAYING THOSE FINES WOULD NOT BE VIEWED AS ADMISSION OF GUILT AND THEY COULD BE PAID AS SOON AS THIS WEEK. ORANGE COUNTY MAYOR TERESA JACOBS, COMMISSIONERS JENNIFER THOMPSON, FRED BRUMMER AND SCOTT BOYD AND FORMER COMMISSIONER JOHN MARTINEZ WERE FINED $500 FOR DESTRUCTION OF PUBLIC RECORDS. BASED UPON THE EVIDENCE WE HAVE THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT THESE OFFICIALS KNEW THESE WERE PUBLIC RECORDS. THEY DELETED TEXT MESSAGES WITH LOBBYISTS AND OTHER PRIVATE CITIZENS DURING A CONTROVERSIAL PUBLIC HEARING LAST YEAR ON A PROPOSED SICK PAY REFERENDUM. ONLY THE MAYOR WAS ABLE TO RETRIEVE HER MESS RAJS. LARGE PERIOD OF CELL PHONE RECORDS ON THESE PRIVATE DEVICES. DESPITE CONCERN THAT'S PAYING THE FINES COULD HURT THE MAYOR AND COMMISSIONER'S DEFENSE FROM A LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY THE GROUP BEHIND THE SICK PAY MEASURE, OUR SOURCES SAY ALL ARE MAKING ARRANGEMENTS TO PAY. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? THE LAWSUIT ITSELF IS PROVING COSTLY TO TAXPAYERS. THE COUNTY HAS SO FAR SPENT MORE THAN $120,000 TO DEFEND ITSELF. THAT'S ABOUT $25,000 MORE THAN THE COUNTY SPENT ON A SYSTEM CALLED TEXT GUARD WHICH ENABLES IT TO COLLECT ELECTRONIC MESSAGES FROM 2,000 COUNTY PROVIDED PHONES. SINCE JUNE THE COUNTY HAS COLLECTED MORE THAN 180,000 MESSAGES. THAT'S AN AVERAGE OF 2400 A DAY OR 100 PER HOUR. NEARLY 600 MESSAGES CAME FROM ELECTED LEADERS IN AND TOP COUNTY OFFICIALS WITH MAYOR JACOBS AND HER CHIEF OF STAFF TOPPING THE LIST. ALL NEW TONIGHT ON "WESH 2 NEWS AT 6", SOME OF THE MESSAGES THE MAYOR AND ELECTED LEADERS WERE SENDING DURING A RECENT CONTROVERSIAL MEETING ABOUT THE